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Why did Parking and Transportation Services (PTS) establish this type of parking permit?

The permit is designed to avoid or postpone major permit price increases of the type that would be necessitated by new parking garage construction. When CU’s two garages were built in the early 1990s permit prices had to be tripled (from $10 to $30 per month) to pay for the Euclid and Regent garages. This new permit is designed to meet three objectives that support this goal of saving campus parkers money:

Better use existing parking space on East Campus

Open up more parking spaces on Main Campus.

Fill seats on the STAMPEDE as the link between Main and East Campuses. If we can fill seats on the Stampede, RTD will maintain more frequent service throughout the day.

Why is the Remote Shuttle Parking Permit not available to people on the East Campus?

It is. A parking lot along 38th Street provides a low-cost remote parking option for those on East Campus that is similarly remote (1-2 mile bus ride from your workplace) and similarly underutilized (over 50% empty on average) in comparison to the lots offered to permit holders based on Main Campus. Free, covered, shuttle parking is currently available to East Campus drivers, with a shuttle trip of a similar length; see the last Q & A below.

Isn’t it unfair to charge people different permit prices to park in the same parking lot?

The price difference is based on the distance from the parking lot to the principal workplace of the permit holder. A two-tiered proximity pricing system was devised in the 1970s for the Parking Services Office because faculty and staff felt that it was unfair for someone who had to walk a long distance from their parking lot to their office be charged the same price as another in that same lot whose building adjoined the lot. Since that time, our office has used a pricing matrix that specifies the price/distance relationship between lots and buildings on campus. This matrix details over 8,000 lot-building price relationships between 69 parking lots and 117 buildings on campus. Approximately 2/3 of campus permit holders pay the highest rate to park relatively close to their primary workplace; 1/3 pay a lower rate to park further away – some out of choice to save money or because they don't drive very often, others because there is not enough close-in parking near their workplace to accommodate them. A smaller fraction park in a gravel lot and pay a lower rate.

I park and work on East Campus; won’t I be crowded out by remote shuttle permit holders?

Most that drive to work on East Campus buy EC Zone permits (good in lots 560, 562, 563, 566 & 567) and park in the section of the EC Zone closest to where they work. The only EC Zone lot available for the remote parking shuttle permit is lot 560. Lot 560 has had an average of 60 empty spaces over the last year. We will limit the number of permits issued in this lot (and others) to insure parking for all permit holders under normal circumstances. The other lots with remote parking shuttle permits are 544, 578 and 580. The number of permits issued here will also be limited. We will monitor the use of the new permits in these lots and work to insure the lots do not become overcrowded.

Why not charge all East Campus permit holders $12.50 per month for a parking permit?

Parking permit prices are based, in part, on proximity – with a two-stage proximity based price structure. Persons who park in a lot adjacent to their primary workplace pay the proximate permit price of $50.25 per month; this is the same on Main and East Campuses. Approximately 72% of all faculty/staff permit holders choose to park close-in and to pay the highest rate of $50.25 per month. Another 17% or so pay the midrate ($42.25 per month) for less proximate parking. Some choose the less proximate option to save money; others are simply waiting for a chance at the higher-priced, close-in parking to become available to them.

Offering a remote parking shuttle permit does not change the cost of proximate parking. People with the privilege of parking adjacent to their building still pay the top permit price for that privilege. Simply charging all existing East Campus faculty and staff $12.50 to park would not better utilize East Campus lots; it would not better utilize the Stampede shuttle and it would not open parking space on Main Campus. To sell these low cost permits to East Campus employees in lots that are not remote from their buildings would be unfair to all other permit holders campus-wide who pay the standard price for proximate parking. In addition, lowering the permit price for existing permit holders with proximate parking would reduce revenue for our office, putting our operation in the red; as a self-funded auxiliary, we do not have the option of running a losing operation. Among other considerations, the bonds that financed the Euclid and Regent parking garages required that PTS maintain an established revenue stream to cover the repayment of the bonds.

How does this affect departmental parking permit allocations?

The number of permits allocated to a department does not change. Moving an existing permit holder from a Main Campus lot to an East Campus lot simply changes the location of that person's permit. In this instance, the department may have another existing permit holder waiting to move into the lot vacated by the permit holder moving to East Campus.

What if I switch from a Main Campus permit to a remote parking shuttle permit and decide later that I want to move back to a Main Campus parking lot?

Switching to or from a remote parking shuttle permit is treated the same as any other change of lot location. Whether moving to an East Campus lot or to a Main Campus lot, specific lot availability will be based on both the number of permits allocated to your department that are unused and on availability of space in any specific lot. Departments are guaranteed an allocated number of permits, but not in any specific lot or lots. Moving an existing permit holder from their current Main Campus lot to an East Campus lot simply changes the location of that person's permit. The number of permits allocated to your department does not change. If you choose to move back to a Main Campus lot, your lot location will depend on space availability; the space you vacated to move to East Campus is likely to have been filled by another permit holder.

Can a remote parking shuttle permit be set up as a carpool permit, with multiple drivers and/or multiple vehicles “attached” to the permit?

A faculty or staff member whose primary work location is on the Main Campus may purchase a remote parking shuttle permit and use it to park on East Campus for a carpool. Carpool members could ride the shuttle to Main from East Campus – or one member of the carpool could drop the others on Main and park on East and take the shuttle back to Main. Moving an existing permit holder from a current lot to an East Campus lot simply changes the location of that person’s permit. The number of permits allocated to a department is not changed by this new permit.

Can a faculty/staff member whose primary work location is on the East Campus be a member of a carpool using a remote parking shuttle permit?

Yes, but he or she cannot be the permit holder. The permit holder must show that their primary place of work is on the Main Campus.

Can I use a remote parking shuttle permit with a departmental business permit?

Yes, but the standard business permit rules apply. While doing departmental business away from your primary work location, you may park in an approved lot by hanging your remote parking shuttle permit together with your department's business permit. You may not use a business permit (with any type of personal permit) to park while working at your primary work location. The Office of Internal Audit has determined that to do so is to use departmental funds for personal parking, a violation of State fiscal rules and a misuse of State funds - something one can lose a job over. Having to travel to and/or from East Campus to retrieve or replace a personal vehicle in order to use it for departmental business suggests that it is unlikely that these permits will be used with business permits.

What if I find my lot full – is there a designated overflow lot?

These permits, like the less expensive gravel lot permits, do not have overflow lots. Permit allocations will be managed so that it will be unlikely you will find your lot full. However, it is possible that, for a variety of reasons, a lot may get too full and you will have to park elsewhere – on the street, at a meter, etc.

Can I buy a second lot permit to add to my remote parking shuttle permit?

No. The remote parking shuttle permit has a specific purpose – to better utilize underused East Campus lots; better utilize the Stampede shuttle at times it is under utilized and to open up parking space on Main Campus.

How and why will my primary work location be verified?

In applying for the permit, we ask you to verify with your signature that your primary work location is not on East Campus; we also ask that you turn in the remote parking shuttle permit if your primary work location changes to East Campus. In addition, because many departments show a departmental and building location in PeopleSoft that is not correct, we check with departmental staff on each person's application - to verify primary work location. We verify work location for two main reasons. First, this permit is very low in cost because we are asking people to park far from their workplace and make a five to fifteen minute bus ride each way (depending on their work location). The second reason we are verifying work location is that many departments do not list actual work locations in PeopleSoft, rather they list all employees at a single location for simplicity's sake but actually have people assigned to a variety of different locations.

There is little or no free public parking in the vicinity of East Campus. What other options are available for faculty and staff based on the East Campus who cannot afford the cost of parking there?

In addition to remote shuttle permits in lot 544 in the Research Park, East Campus employees actually have a free remote shuttle parking option similar to $12.50/month remote shuttle option offered to those based on Main Campus. Free, covered, shuttle parking is currently available at the RTD Table Mesa park-n-Ride garage at US 36 and Table Mesa Drive/South Boulder Road – the shuttle trip on Foothills Parkway to and from the 824 space Table Mesa park-n-Ride from East Campus takes about the same amount of time as the trip to and from East Campus from Main: seven minutes.

See a map of the entire park-n-Ride system, with 66 locations – all free. Parking at the Table Mesa park-n-Ride is free and the "S" bus runs directly to the bus stop on 30th at Marine (about a seven minute ride).